Walton, Victor, and the monster all had hopes and dreams of a greater understanding of the unknown. Victor had the knowledge and the will power to create life; but he lacked the compassion for his creature. The monster in fact had more compassion than his creator did. “ The monster is at once more intellectual and more emotional than his maker; indeed he excels Frankenstein as much (and in the same ways) as Milton’s Adam excels Milton’s God in Paradise Lost”(Bloom 215). Victor’s lack of compassion and failure to love; lead to the monster’s downfall and his later demise.
Victor tried to hard to create life and act like God. He unlike God had no heart or compassion for the life he had created; and if he did then it would have caused a different outcome in the novel. “ I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet (56). ” This is one of the many examples of Victor’s abilities to create life. Instead of showing love for his creature, he abandoned it and then hated the fact that he had indeed created a monster. “…the dreams vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.
This hatred that Victor felt towards his creation lead to the monster’s feelings of hate for his creator. The monster from the very beginning like any new born wanted to be loved. He instead was abandoned from the moment of his birth and left to die. This left him alone in the world to find his own place. He was left with no understanding of love or hate. The monster went on to find his place in the world but was hated by all. This left him feeling very lonely, until he found a family which he adopted to be his own in secrete. He learned great many things from this family; speech and compassion were two of the great lessons learned.
He one day decided to try and reveal him to these wonderful people. He was then again faced with the reality that he was an outsider and did not belong. When Felix and Safie thrashed out against him, he was wounded to the soul. This is when he first experienced hate, as he knew it. In my opinion this was the turning point in the novel. The monster went from a good compassionate monster to a revenge-seeking killer. All that he wanted to do was get revenge on Victor for being created as an outcast. The monster in my heart was truly a good monster until this moment. He fled what had been his home in search for Victor, to seek his revenge.
When he reached Geneva that is where his awful deeds began. “Suddenly as I gazed on him, an idea seized me that this little creature was unprejudiced and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity (135). ” He felt that he could take this child and educate him in a understanding way so that he would have a companion. He was wrong the child was very upset and scared. It was in fact William, Victor’s youngest brother that the monster had seized for companionship. William revealed who his father was; this enraged the monster so much that he killed William.
I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands, I exclaimed, ‘I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him. ’(136) After the monster killed William and framed Justine for it, his revenge had just begun. He chased after Victor for many months trying to gain his attention and acknowledgement of existence. During this time I feel that the monster had time to think and reflect on his crimes that had been committed.
This is where he flips again to a rational monster; who has remorse for his wrong doings. He even though it brought grief to his creator, felt guilty for his crimes. This is why he sought to find Frankenstein; he wanted forgiveness and understanding. This stems back to him just wanting love from his creator. When he finally catches up with Victor the meeting starts out unfavorable. Victor again looks at his own selfish needs, instead of those of his creation. When the monster comes to approach him; Victor should have had a different outlook on the situation.
He is taken on by surprise as the monster approaches him. “Devil, do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? (95)” This remark did not bother the monster instead he took him inside a cave and spoke with him. All that the monster wanted was one little request, and that was to have a woman companion. This at first seemed like a good idea to Victor, but he later recanted on this deal. It is that one incident of destroying the female monster that led to the awful conclusions of the novel.
If Victor Frankenstein had been more like a mother to the monster, none of the treacherous events that took place would have even occurred. He instead showed hate, and prejudices towards his own creation, which he got in return from the monster. When you put some one in a bad environment with nothing but hate and violence, that is what they will return to the environment. When you have someone in a caring and nurturing environment, that individual will show love and compassion for everyone around them. All Victor had to do was show a little compassion; that in its self would have saved four innocent lives.